While You Were Sleeping
by Adora Dark
Summary: "Do I look good in white?" 'You look good in everything' were the words forming inside Sousuke's mind. (A sad fic about life when nothing but love remains. SouRin.)


**While You Were Sleeping**

* * *

The clock ticked its twelfth hour. Sousuke opened the oven and took out the muffins tray, the spicy smell of cinnamon and fruity scent of hot apples flooding the sunlit kitchen. He breathed in the tantalizing aroma and smirked satisfied. Rin would wolf the fluffy cakes down in no time.

He arranged them in a curly aspen platter and placed it on the festive table. Just like every year, Sousuke was in charge of indulging everyone's palate in the savory secrets of his cooking. Rin didn't bother himself with the kitchen. It was actually the only day of the year greeting them with their roles reversed. Rin would snuggle against his soft pillow to avoid the morning hassle, getting up only an hour before the set dinner time to doll up and dazzle the guests. On the contrary, Sousuke, traditionally notorious for oversleeping, would wake up in the callow light of dawn and start creating on the culinary canvas. He dearly cherished their anniversary after all.

 _"Do you think it's gonna rain?"_

Speak of the devil and he doth appear. Sousuke raised an eyebrow at the shark-shaped pendulum clock on the wall, as Rin's voice echoed through the living room. The shark boy was yet again in time with his delayed schedule.

"I don't think so, the sky seems cloudless enough to me."

They had got married in a private ceremony five years ago, surrounded by a few close friends. Apart Rin's sister, no other family member had attended their wedding. People always singled out whatever exceeded the warped reality they had built around themselves. But both he and Rin were past caring. Nothing could tarnish the most heartwarming moment of their common life. After the wedding, Rin had dragged them to the quiet seashore, ravishing as he stood in his white tux, barefoot on the golden sand. And when the first droplets of rain had trickled down their faces, he had lifted his crimson gaze to the ashen sky and welcomed their tender pelting.

Sousuke checked the beef casserole in horseradish sauce, the steam emerging from the pot like a charmed serpent, and began making the chocolate ganache for the dessert.

 _"You really went all out again to prepare everything."_

"Nah, you know I like it."

And Sousuke meant it. His bizarre relation with cooking had begun unexpectedly all those years ago, during their careless teenhood in the Samezuka festival. Time had slipped away like dry oaken leaves blown in the autumn wind, and as months turned to seasons, and seasons turned to years, his fondness for gastronomy's magic blended with his love for the fiery redhead. He would attempt cooking literally anything, as long as Rin was there to taste it. Even the exquisite dinner after their marriage had been the product of his profound emotions, as Sousuke, despite the pressure and any rest arrangements, had been there to help the chef, Haruka Nanase, with the wedding catering.

 _"Do I look good in white?"_

'You look good in everything' were the words forming inside Sousuke's mind.

"Just wear something comfortable, Rin. We're only having a few friends coming."

He knew well that , despite his fashion advice, Rin would spend an hour changing outfits while pretending to remain nonchalant, until he was sure he'd steal the spotlight. Not that he didn't own it already anyway. He adored that about Rin; the ability to stand out even when sporting his timeworn, sleeveless shirt, even when casting an ordinary glance or saying the most trivial joke. Then again, he adored everything about him.

 _"Hey, boy, come here! Good boy...I have a treat for you."_

"Are you spoiling Jun again?"

Sousuke shook his head while he listened to Rin's cheerful japes with his beloved companion. A brindle Hokkaido dog with smooth fur in earth tones and a playful twinkle in his dark eyes. He was quite the rebel with everyone else, but he had displayed high fidelity towards Rin from the very first moment they met, leading the redhead to come up with the perfect name for his newfound guardian. Jun. The obedient one.

 _"How long are you going to hold that?"_

Sousuke looked down at the bowl full of tempting, rich chocolate, resting in his hands.

"It's almost ready -"

He squinted his sapphire eyes and turned around abruptly. Rin wasn't there. Sousuke craned his neck and cast a brief glance at the living room. He could hear the unruffled shark boy casually whistling an old tune. Immediately, his attention swayed towards the pyramid of delicious muffins on the dining table. He mentally counted them one by one, and when he reassured himself that none were missing, and every other delicacy of the buffet remained untouched as well, he let the soft sigh dangling from his lips shape up into a devious grin.

Rin had a bad habit of sneaking into the kitchen in the middle of his creative rampage and steal bites off his culinary masterworks. This irritated Sousuke, even though a tad less than he usually admitted, but Rin had always a unique way to be the first to try everything. In every aspect of their life that is. The moments he had crossed first the finish line, stealing initiatives away from Sousuke's grasp, had signified their shared pathway all along. Rin had been the one to lean in and capture his lips into their first kiss. He had been the one to use first the word "date" so casually, as if it was the most natural closure for them in the world. And that brisk night at the gym's loft, with their breaths billowing in the cold air and their chests heaving anxiously over what they were about to do, it was Rin again who removed first his shirt and shrunk the distance between them.

It had been Rin's idea to move in together, and as their parents eventually opposed to the unlawful bond connecting their sons, it was Rin the one who first stood his ground and shut their negativity down. Thus, one ordinary, caramel-colored dusk, Sousuke, afraid that, at this rate, Rin would inevitably steal even the proposal scene from him, braked his old mustang in a random alley and hastily took out of his coat's lining a tiny, cobalt box, offering it to the redhead with shaking, sweaty hands. He was certain that he had royally ruined the whole magic, by turning the most yearned for moment in Rin's life to a rushed charade in a dim backstreet, until the apple of his eyes engulfed him in a tide of passionate kisses and tears of ineffable joy.

The screeching sound of a ringing phone reverberated through the house.

"Babe, can you get that?"

Silence. Sousuke rolled his eyes and used a tea towel to wipe the cream off his hands. He could bet Rin had returned upstairs, to the sweet comfort under their satin sheets. He strode into the living room and picked up the disturbing receiver.

"Sousuke-kun, I'm glad you finally answered."

"Hey Gou..."

"Listen, I'm terribly sorry, you have no idea, but the baby is being a pain again, he hasn't stopped crying and I think I shouldn't take him out in this weather. This rain is getting on my nerves, it's a total blast out there."

Sousuke knitted his brows and slightly pulled back the suede, latte curtains with the overlapping crescents. The bright midday showered his face with warm rays of glorious light. Why everyone kept talking about rain today?

"So you're not coming?"

"You know we'd love to but this storm seems neverending. However, we can eat altogether here if you want. Sei can come and pick you up, while I'll throw together something nice. An omelet or pasta perhaps."

"No, it's cool. There's plenty of food here. We'll be fine."

"Ok then, I guess if the rain stops...wait...you said _'we'_...?"

A long sigh filled the other end of the line.

"Sousuke-kun...you didn't take them, again, did you? You remember what the doctor said."

Sousuke pursed his lips perplexed. He loved Gou immensely, but recently she had turned so overprotective with him, sometimes he struggled to bear it. Besides, that itchy sensation that was gradually spreading over his old shoulder injury, wasn't helping at all.

"Look, I'm sending Sei over there, ok? It won't take him but fifteen minutes or so. You shouldn't stay alone on a day like this."

"Alone? I'm not alone. Rin is upstairs sleeping."

Another pause. This time, when Gou's voice coursed through the line again, it seemed a bit rougher. Cracked.

"Sousuke-kun, onii-chan is not upstairs...two years ago, on your anniversary, he was driving your mustang, returning home for the dinner...you forgot it again, didn't you? You're right, onii-chan has been sleeping...just not upstairs..."

Sousuke stood there silent. A lonely, pellucid tear escaped his glazed sapphires and trickled down his cheek.

"Sei is already on his way there. He'll pick you up pretty soon and we're gonna spend a fine day together. I'm going to check on the baby and call you back, okay?"

"Okay."

A faint scratch on the front door grabbed his attention as soon as he hanged up. Jun sneaked inside and shook countless droplets off his soggy coat. Kneeling by his side, Sousuke frowned and raked his fingers through his tan fur.

"How did you get all wet, boy?"

The seconds crawled slowly, each tick a thought or a memory scattered in time, and then, suddenly, Sousuke's face relaxed. His thick, dark eyebrows returned to their arched shape, the teal in his eyes sparkled again as he stood up. The trail that single tear had left on his handsome face was long gone and a soft smile danced at the corner of his lips.

"Let's go, Jun. We have to finish that dessert before your master wakes up."

The loyal dog wagged his tail and Sousuke followed Jun back into the kitchen, leaving the lounge room with the TV on. There, on its screen, Rin was beaming in his white tuxedo, careless and free, as the tranquil seaside was expanding behind him in rows of sandy yellow and sky-blue, and a brindle puppy was happily swirling around his bare feet.

 _"Will you keep holding that?"_

 _"Until it starts raining. Come on, say something else to the camera."_

 _"Like what, Sousuke?"_

 _"Anything, baby..."_

 _"I love you...I'll always do..."_

 **The End  
**

* * *

Thanks for reading. Reviews are appreciated. **  
**


End file.
